Knife sharpening device



May 16, 1933. w. BLANKNER' I 1,909,743

KNIFE SHARPENING DEVICE Filed March 16, 1927 :52 0 6711701- MW @M L I'ing members canbe reciprocated so that the.

Patented Mav16, 1933 PATENT "OFFICE WILLIAM BLANKNER, OF MIAMI, FLORIDAKN 11E SHARPENING DEVICE Application filed March 16, 1927. Serial No.175,680.

This invention relates to sharpening de-- vices and moreparticularly toa device adapted to sharpen the cutting edge of knives or other articlesof cutlery, which device is simple in construction and inexpensive tomanufacture but exceptionally efficient in operation.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide asharpening device,the abrasive mem: bers of which are adapted to adjust themselves toconform to the fiat surfaces of the cutting edge irrespective of thevertical po- 1 sition of the knife between the said members, therebycausing the knife to be sharpened along its true cutting edge.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for adjusting theangular relationship of the abrading members so that the cutting. edgeof the knife may be sharpened irrespective of the angle of the cuttingedge.

A-furtherobject of the invention is to provide means for independentlyadjustingthe angular position ,of the abrading members- -with respectto'each other and the cutting edge of the knife to be sharpened so thatu on engagement of the knife with the abra ing members the said memberswill automatically adjust themselves to the angle corresponding A to thebevels of the cutting edge.

A Another object of the present invention is to provide means wherebyone of the abradsharpening device is capable of sharpening r knives ofdifferent thicknesses and sizes.

As a final object of the invention, means are provided whereby uponthe'reciprocation of one of the abrading members oil is pumped from asuitable receptacle and deposited upon the sharpening edge of theabrading members to thereby materially assist in the sharp- I ening ofthe knives or other articles to. be

sharpened.

With the objects above indicated and other objects hereinafter explainedin view, my in- J vention consists in the construction and combinationof elements hereinafter. described and claimed.

Referring to the drawing: Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a deviceembodying my invention.

In the drawing, the frame comprises a bottom plate 11, upwardlyextending end 7 members 12 and 13 formed integral with the base plate11, and the upper portion of the end member 13 is provided with aninwardly extending top plate 14 formed integral therewith and extendinginwardly to substantialthe center of the frame 10. This frame 10 1ssupported by a plurality of legs 15 disposed at the four corners of thebase plate 11 and connected thereto by any suitable means. The baseplate 11 is provided with a pair of parallelly extending guides 16 uponthe upper surface thereof while the top plate 14 is provided with a pairof parallelly extending thereof, t e guides 16 and 17 being in verticalalignment and formed integral with the base plate 11 and top 14 resectively or secured in any other suitable man r ler.

. A carriage 18 is positioned between the top plate 14 and the baseplate 11, and is pro uides 17 upon the under surface I top plate 19 isprovided withla pair of upwardly extending lugs 21 adapted toreciprocatewithin one of the guides 17 while a sec.- ond pair of lugs 22 are formedintegral with a pair of integrally formed depending lugs 23 adapted tofreely reciprocate within one of the guides 16 upon the base plate 11,while a second-pair of depending lugs 24'extend parallel with and arespaced apart from the lugs 23 so as to freely reciprocate within theopposite guide 16. From the foregoing description it will be readilyseen that the carriage 18 is free to reciprocate within the guides 16upon the bottom plate 11 and within the top plate 19' and extendparallel with but 5- the guides 17 upon the top plate 14. plurality ofsupporting members 25 are bolted at 26'and 27 to the ends of the plates-19 and respectively and extend at an incline due to the fact that theplate 19 is substantially shorter than the plate 20. The angle of thesevided at its lower end with a foot or lateral extension 28 and upon itsopposite edges with outwardly extending parallel clips 29 which areadapted to support therebetween an abrading member 30. The lower inneredge of the abrading member 30 is rounded the lower end of supportingmember abrading member 32 is off, as indicated at 31, and the end of the,member is adapted to freely rest upon the lateral extension 28'. Theupper endof the abrading member 30 is spaced from the supporting member25 by a spring 32, which spring permits the abrading member 30 to adjustitself to the angle or bevel of the cutting edge of the knife to besharpened. This adjustment is made possible by the fact that theabrading member 30 is in no manner secured to the supporting member 25,the abrading member 30 being free to move about the rounded edge 31 inengagement with the supporting member 25. The opposite abrading members32 a plurality of which are herein shown, are each supported by asupporting. member 33 similar to the supporting member 25, the lower endof each 33 being provided with a lateral extension or foot 34 and withparallelly extending side slips 35 between which an abrading member 32is supported.

The supporting members 33 are each bolted or otherwise secured to aplate '36 which has formed at-its lowerouter edge an ear 37 which ispivoted "at 38 to the ex tension 39 formed integrally upon the upper Isurface of the base member 11. The upper end of the abrading member 32is spaced from the supporting member 33 by a spring 40 similar to spring32, which separates the abrading member 30 from the-supporting member25, and the lowerinner edge of the rounded at 41 to permit theabradingmember to readily adjust itself within the supporting member 32to thebevel of the cutting edge of the knife.

Itis desirable to adjust the angular position of the abrading member 32on account of the diflerent bevels of the cutting/ edges 0f the knivesto be sharpened, and I therefore provide a screw-threaded rod 42 adaptedto engage a screw-threaded opening 43 provided in the upper portion ofthe end member 12, the inner end of the rod being universally connectedat '44 to an extension 45- formed integrallyupon the rear portion 0 theplate 36. The forward end of the rod 42 is provided with a hand wheel'46keyed or otherwise secured thereto, and upon rota-' tion ofthe handwheel it will be readily seen that the angular position of the plate 36and, consequently, of the abrading members 32 is' varied, depending uponthe direction of rotation of the hand wheel 46. An indicator may beemployed to determine the angular position of the plate 36, and Itherefore provide an upstanding arm 47 bolted to the upper portion ofthe end member 12 and having a graduated portion 48 graduated Tomaintain a' tension or pressure upon the knife or other implement to besharpened the reciprocating carriage 18 is constantly held inwardly bymeans of a plurality of springs 50. These springs,'of which four'innumber are herein 1llustrated,-- surround a plurality of horizontallyextending rods 51 which have one end screw-threaded into suitableopenings 52 in the end plate 13, while the inner end slidably extendsthrough suitable openings in the carriage 18. It will be noticed thatthe springs 50 are adapted to abut at one end with the inner surface ofthe end plate 13 while the opposite end abuts with a portion of thecarriage 18. These springs maintain the carriage in its innermostposition, and when the knife or other implement to be sharpened isforced downwardly between the abrading members 30 and 32, the carriage18 is moved outwardly against the tension of thesprings 50, and uponremoval of the knife the springs 50 will return the carriage to "itsnormal inward position. It will, therefore, be. noted that a tension orpressure is continually maintained upon the knife while ethe same isbeing through a suitable slot 58 provided in the base plate 11. Thelower portion of the cylinder 54 has connected thereto a pipe 59 thefree end of which is adapted to be positioned within the oil containedin the, receptacles 53. At the upper portion of the cylinder '54'pipelines 60 and 61 communicate through tubing- 62 and 63 respectively withthe faces of'the abrading members. The upper end devices it is desirableto' piston f the tubing 62 is connected to the end of a I forked member64, the free ends of which correspond to the number of abrading members.32 and are held in engagement withthe sharpening surfaces of theabrading members by means of a plurality of clips 65. The

' upper end of the tubing 63 is connected to one end of a forked member66', the free ends of which correspond to the number of abrading members30 and are held in contact with the sharpening faces of the abradingmembers by means of a plurality of clips 67. It will readily be seenthat upon reciprocation of the carriage 18 the piston 55 is reciprocatedwithin the cylinder 54 and upon its rearward movement the oil is drawnthrough the pipe 59 into the cylinder 54, but upon its forward movementthe oil within the cylinder is forced upwardly through the pipes 60downwardly between the abrading members 30 and 32 and-downwardmovementcauses the abrading members 30 and 32 to adjust themselves tothe bevel of the cutting edge of the knife due to the fact that theseabrading members 30 and 32 are freely carried by the supporting memberswill adjust themselves to the bevel of the cutting edge as the knife ismoved inwardly and downwardly during the sharpening operation. Thefarther downwardly the knife is moved the farther outwardly the carriage18 is moved, and at the same time suflicient pressure is maintainedthrough the springs 20 upon the cutting edge of the knife to cause thesame to be completely sharpened; Each.

time the knife is moved forwardly and downwardly during the sharpeningoperation the carriage is moved outwardly, and each time so that theangle between the abrasive memthe knife is moved backwardly andoutwardly the carriage 18 is permitted to move inwardly, thereby causingthe oil to be pumped to the sharpening edges of the abrading members. Itw ll be noted that the abrading members 30 and 32 are staggered withrespect to each other and substantially overlap at their lowerends sothat the sharpening of the knife or other implement can be effectedsubstantially throughout the entire sharpening surface of the abradingmembers.

When the bevel of the abrasive member 32 is changed by rotation of thehand wheel 46, it. may be desirable to position the device bers 30 and32 as related to a line perpendicular through the apex of the angle isthe same. Therefore the frame 10 may be pivoted at 68 to the legs 15 andthe opposite 25 and 33. They legs 15'can have a lug 69 formed integraltherewith and extend inwardly with a tapped opening/70 extending throughsaid lugs 69. The base plate 11 supports a rotatable bolt 71 providedwith shoulders 72 to prevent longitudinal movement of the bolt and thelower end of the latter is screw-threaded and engages with the tappedopening 70 in the lugs 69.

It will, therefore, be seen that the horizontal position of the frame 10can be changed by turning the bolt 71 which thereby centralizes theabrasive members 30 and 32 with respect to a line perpendicular with theapex of the angle between the members. This adjustment permits the knifebeing sharpened to engage the abrasive members in a vertical positionand thereby produce an even edge upon the knife.

While I have described the preferred construction of the deviceembodying my in vention, it is to be understood-that various changes inthe construction and arrangement of the different elements can beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the inventionas-defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A knife sharpeningdevice comprising two sets of abrading memberspositioned in staggered relation and extending upwardly at a divergingangle, means for supporting each set of members, one ofsaid supporting.means being angularly adjustable manually,

and means for causing said members to adjust themselves to the differentbevels of cutting edges of implements upon engagement therewith.

2. A knife sharpening device comprising two sets of abrading memberspositioned in staggered relation and extending upwardly at a divergingangle, cans for supporting each set of members, one of said supportingmeans being movable in the same plane toward and away from the other ofsaid supporting means while the'other of said supporting means isangularly adjustable, and means for causingsaid members themselves tothe different bevels of cutting edges ofv implements upon engagementtherewith.

' 3. A. knifesharpening device comprising to adjust dicating'means-associated with said supporting means adapted to indicate theangular position of said adjustable supporting means,

and means for causing said members-to adjust themselves to'thed'fi'erentbevels of-cutting edges of implements upon engagement therewith.

4. A knife sharpening device comprising two sets of abrading memberspositioned in adjustingsai d supporting means, and ,"for causing.saidmembers to ad ust themat a diverging angle,

staggered relation and extending upwardly means 7 for supporting one ofsaid supporting means for means each set of members, means beingangularly adjustable,

selves to the different bevels of cutting edges. of implements uponengagement therewith.

' 5. 'A knife sharpening device comprising .two sets of ab'radmgmemberspositioned 1n "staggered relation and extendlng upwardly 7,. In aknife sharpenlng at a diverging angle, each set of members, means beingmovable ward and away from f staggered relation and extending upwardly.means for supporting one of saidsupporting toward and away from at a'divergent angle, eachset of members, means being movable the other ofsaid supporting means, means for maintaining said movable supportingmeans in its normal inward position, and means for causing said membersto adjust themselveswith respect to said supporting means to thedifferent bevels of cutting edges of implements upon engageme ttherewith. device and the like, the combination of a frame, a memberpivotally connected to said frame, a plurality of abrading memberssupported by said member, a carriage slidablymounted on said frame, anda plurality'of abrading members supported by said carriage,-eachplurality of abrading members being positioned in stagespect tovtheother plurality of a rading a members.

' being positioned-in staggered-relation and at plurality of ab 8,. In aknife sharpenmgdevice andthe like, the combination of a frame,pivotally' connected to said frame, means for adjusting theangular'p'osition of said member, a lurality of ported y said member,mounted-on'said-frame, and a p uralityof abrading \memb'ers supported bysaid carriage, each plurality of abrading members a carriage slidably aconverging angle with respect to the other fad ng members. 9. Ina kni spening device and the like, the comblnation of a-frame, a plate piv-'otally connected to said vframe, supporting.

bers carried by 'said resilient means positione members fixed to saidplate, abrading mem-' etween said su portmg e e an said'abrading' 1msuiplortmg members,

bers, a carriage slidably mounted on said frame, supporting membersconnected to said carriage, abrading members carried by said lattersupporting members, and resilient means p sitioned between the secondabrading mem ers and their the first set of abrading members beingstaggered and at a converging angle with respect to the other set ofabrading members.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

WILLIAM BLANK ER.

edges of implements supporting members,

gered'relation and at a converging an le with a member abrading memberssup- 1

